


I'll save you a thousand times

by Brit_In_Space



Category: Youtube Gaming, youtube - Fandom
Genre: A LOT of Angst, Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mark is a time traveler, Modern Victubia AU, Septiplier - Freeform, Time Travel, Time Traveler AU, VictubiaAU, sadness all around, slight coffee shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 01:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5807416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brit_In_Space/pseuds/Brit_In_Space
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack just couldn't understand. Mark, the man across the street, he didn't know when he'd exactly moved into the Tubia neighborhood but it certainly hadn't been as long ago as everyone 'remembered', no matter who he asked. Ken, Felix, even Arin or Danny it'd always be the same. </p><p>"Dude, you went to high school together. Or were you serious about being drunk all the time?" Came one such reply from the animator.</p><p>Something was up and Jack was going to find out what exactly the man across the street was hiding, whether he wanted to or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll save you a thousand times

**Author's Note:**

> I think I got all the typos, if I haven't please tell me. This is kinda long to skim for that kind of stuff.

“Jack! Get your ass down here now!” The obnoxious cries of Jack’s roommate rang all throughout the small house they lived in, however somewhat muffled since it was coming from where Jack presumed was the basement. That couldn’t be good. He rolled his eyes and yelled that he was coming before he shut his laptop and headed out of the room.

As he got closer to the room the signs of panic could be seen more and more. The scorch marks on the walls, some of the chip wall even showing newly filled in holes, some holes still there and a certain American’s loud screaming topped it all off.

“JACK! HELP ME!” The Irishman broke into a run as he reached the room on the end of the hallway and kicked the door open, his jaw instantly dropped at the scene before him, he couldn’t explain it even if he tried. To put it simply, there was a portal to a parallel universe in the basement, a mass of tentacles and claws emitting from it along with loud animalistic noises, and his roommate was trying to defend himself with a broom, stabbing the brush wildly at the creature.

“What did you do?” Jack asked, his voice completely flat and void of any sort of emotion except maybe a little disappointment.

“You know what I did! Now shut the damn thing off!” The Irishman rolled his eyes with a slight chuckle as he casually walked over to the generators power mains, his finger only resting on the switch however.

The American in front of him let out a squeal as a slimy tentacle wrapped around his arm, jerking his body forward and making him drop the broom.

“Jack! I’m gonna get dragged in!” He screamed, by now Jack was sure the neighbours could hear all the commotion, but like all the other times, they were wise enough not to knock and ask.

“Depends.” Jack grinned as Mark looked desperately towards him, the creature starting to drag his arm into the dimension beyond.

“On what?!” He was hysterical now as Jack looked up at the burnt ceiling in fake thought.

“Cinema. Tonight. On you of course, I chose film and food.” Mark’s mouth dropped open as his gaze left Jack, went to the monster in front of him and then back to Jack. Did he even have to really contemplate this? 

“Okay! Okay, it’s a date.” He sighed the last bit as Jack smiled and flipped the switch easily, the ominous blue swirl disappearing along with the tentacles, claws and noises. The American jerked his entire body away from the device in the middle of the room before turning to the whiteboard in front in him and crossing out the number 228, other lower numbers to that crossed out as well. 

“The two-hundreds are dangerous, man.” He shook his head as he seemingly returned to his own little zone.

“No ‘thank you’?” Jack asked as Mark smiled slightly.

“Thank you, Jack for saving my totally amazing and brilliant life, after putting me to the mercy of the lion-opus.” He spoke a little too sarcastically as the Irishman grinned and walked over to him, being mindful of the ‘portal generator’ in the middle of the room.

“Why do you do this?” He asked as he looked around the entire room, lab equipment and other random things along with a lot of red bull scattered around.

“Science.” The American answered simply as Jack snorted.

“Doesn’t fucking look like it.” They both laughed as Jack sat with Mark for the rest of the day helping him work, work on whatever the hell he’d been doing these past years. 

____

[2 years ago]

Every day he stared, looking out his window at the house across the street. It was nice little brick house in fact, a mildly-well-kept garden with a car and rubbish bin out front and curtains opened showing almost Victorian styled window panes, however this was not enough to see inside. 

If you’d just been walking past and happened to look in its direction, stop for a second to admire said house and move on, everything would appear normal, great even. Although Jack knew differently about that little, neat home, ever since he’s inquired who lived there to his friend Felix over a pint at the local bar the man just laughed and exclaimed, ‘Who? Mark? You have to be kidding. He went college with us, remember. Or were you drunk every day of your teenage life?’ However Jack did not remember as Felix had said. 

Maybe he was just someone only Felix knew, they didn’t exactly hang out a lot when they were younger. However when the Swedish man showed him a picture of the three at a party he was sure he’d never seen the American in his life, much less attend school with him, or even hang off him in a drunken haze at a party he hardly recalled. That’s when it started though, the little noises from the house nobody else seemed to hear, the smoke and lights nobody else seemed to see, the shouts and screams that startled only him while walking home from work. It was strange to say the least. Should he go and knock? Ask if things were okay? Or just move on with his life with a faked ignorance of what may be happening across the street. The events nobody but he seemed to be aware of. 

However Jack didn’t seem to have a choice in the matter because on one particular day in…maybe August if he could remember, there were a rush of knocks and bangs at his door during the night. Jack was reluctant to open the door at first but when he heard the man’s voice, the plea for help. He couldn’t deny him, and that’s when everything spiraled for Jack, that’s when he first truly met ‘doctor’ Mark Fischbach and found out what the hell was going on at that house across the street.

\---------

“What?!” Jack yelled as he sat on the edge of the American’s sofa, said man pacing up and down his living room and then stopping to violently ruffle his hair.

“I told you already. Other dimensions, parallel universes, time travel. Is any of this sticking? At all?” The Irishman was utterly bewildered. He had heard the man right, but how could any of that be true? He sounded like an utter mad man.

“You’ve seen it already!” Mark yelled towards him as he pulled out a watch, cursing under his breath. “We don’t have time for this. I need you to help me work the portal generator, I need you to be ready on the switch or an inter-dimensional war might start between the one hundreds if I don’t speak to the president of one-zero-eight.” That was it.

“What the fuck?! You aren’t making sense, Mark!” The man ruffled his hair angrily.

“I messed up, okay! I need to help someone and this is a two man mission and…and…” The American huffed as Jack folded his arms in front of him.

“I’m the ‘second man’?”

“Yeah.” Jack rolled his eyes and weighed his options, he could go along with this man and possibly see something amazing, or his stash of all the drugs he was currently on. As the thought crossed his mind he actually looked up and scanned the man’s face properly for the first time. He was quite handsome, didn’t seem to look like a druggie or dealer, however Jack still held suspicion as he eyed him. 

“Aren’t you like ‘the doctor’, or some shit? You have a partner?” The man noticeably flinched and Jack couldn’t help by feel he’d hit a sore spot.

“Um...never mind, I’ll help you.” The Irishman quickly deflected as he saw Mark become a lot more relaxed, the visible tension in his shoulders vanishing.

“Look I know,” Mark started as he led Jack down a long hallway deeper into the recesses of his home. “…what I do seems new to you, weird even, but I swear I wouldn’t have asked you unless it was an emergency. And it kind of is.” Jack just nodded as his eyes wandered around him and landed on a particularly burnt patch in the wall.

“Ah, well,” Mark scratched the back of his head as he followed the Irishman’s gaze. “You don’t need to know what happened there.” Before he started to cough, Jack defiantly hearing the word ‘Dragon’ come up and avoiding the patch before moving on.

“You really not going to mace me or anything, are you?” Jack asked uneasily as they reached the end of the hallway, Mark pausing as he reached to open the door with a key.

“I’m the crazy one here, I should be asking you that.” The American chuckled as Jack’s eyes zoned in as the door was opened, sure, he may have been expecting the whole big, flashing light, sci-fi shit but in reality it just looked like any normal 26 year old’s room.

“Expecting more?” Mark rose an eyebrow towards Jack as the Irishman instantly scowled and looked away.

“No.” The other man chuckled as Jack casually sat on the bed as Mark went around the room pulling random things from draws and wardrobes. As Mark sat back down next to him he held a small box in his hand, or that’s what it was at first glance. As the Irishman got a closer look it almost seemed like some kind of projector but on closer inspection it wasn’t.

“This,” Mark announced. “Is how I travel.” Jack stayed quiet and let the man talk as he ran through everything he wanted the Irishman to help him with. Seemingly it was just for him to flip a single switch.

“You see,” Mark flipped the device over as he pointed to a small clock on the side. “The portal’s on a timer so I’m only in the dimension or moment for a set amount of time. However I don’t know how long or how quick I need to be with this one so I need a manual over ride to shut it off.” Jack just nodded as the American lead him through everything, his mind trying to take everything on board even when Mark practically screamed ‘crazy’.

“We doing this now?” Jack asked as Mark stood up and nodded, setting the device on the floor in front of him and handed Jack a walkie-talkie.

“When I tell you to,” Mark started as he set things up. “You need to be quick, just press the override on the side and the portal will shut down.” With a press of another button the machine came to life and Jack could hardly believe his eyes.

“Why?” Jack muttered just before Mark left, the man turning to him.

“Why what?” He asked as Jack he jumped out of his thoughts.

“Why would you trust me with something like this? We’ve never met before.” The American didn’t reply as he disappeared into the vast world hidden to Jack.

\------

Mark was taking too long. Sure Jack didn’t really have a single idea what he was doing but the man had been gone at least an hour with no communication, Jack had tried contacting the man but he got no reply.

“Mark. C’mon, you’ve been an hour now.” No reply. “I need to go to work.” About five minutes later a noise eventually crackled through.

“-ACK! G---the swi-.” The American’s voice broke in the white noise but Jack was quick to jump into action, running towards the machine and practically tackling the switch to turn off the portal. It quickly dissipated into nothing as Mark reappeared in the room, but he was wet with rain and even as he tried to hide it, had blood on his hands.

“Mark? Are you okay?” The man flinched as he looked into Jack’s eyes, the Irishman only reading pain in the others. He was out of a pretty big loop on something, he could instantly tell.

“Come back tomorrow.” Mark rushed out as he picked up his things and walked Jack out of house, the Irishman taken back a little by how the other man had changed so quickly.

“Mark, what happened?” Jack stopped just outside his porch as Mark looked down at him from the stairs.

“Come back tomorrow, I need to try again.” Was all he said before the door closed and Jack was left, very confused, in the middle of this man’s garden.

____

The streets were getting darker as Mark and Jack made their way out of the cinema, the Irishman grinning as he stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“Cool movie, right?” Jack asked the American as he nodded with a small smile and drunk some coke.

“You always pick the best.” He muttered as the Irishman noticed the other glancing around them, a bitter breeze running through the air.

“You alright?” He asked as Mark just shrugged, there was a feeling he couldn’t put his finger on, no matter how hard he tried to. That was until the sound of fast footsteps cut them both out of their convocation.

“Someone stop him!” A shout echoed the mildly empty streets, clearly aimed towards Mark and Jack as a figure shoved past them, he was clearly a good head higher than both men as the Irishman was quick to break into a run after the thief.

“Hey! Jack!” Mark cast a glance back to the woman behind them before turning and going after his roommate. The two ran after the strange man until they eventually stopped at an alley way. Mark and Jack both panting for breath as the other man was backed into a corner.

“Why’d you steal from the lady, man?” Jack asked as the thief’s eyes darted around nervously, he gripped the unknown woman’s bag in a vice like grip, it looked expensive too.

“You don’t understand…” The man stuttered. “I need the money, dude.” The man saw Mark pull out his phone, obviously to call the police as his eyes widened. In a split second of panic the cornered man pulled a gun on the two men in front of him.

“H-hey…” Jack said as Mark looked up from his device, thumb hovering over the ‘dial’ button.

“I’ll shoot.” The thief’s hands shook almost violently as the gun moved from Mark to Jack, the two glancing nervously towards each over before the American took a slow step forward, the other man flinching and keeping the weapon trained on Mark.

“You need to calm down.” Mark’s voice was quiet, soft, calming. Jack had heard that tone before, both when He and Jack got into fights and on...other occasions. The man in front of them was clearly over whelmed, eyes red rimmed and the flush of both alcohol and tiredness high in his cheeks.

“I owe a guys, m-man.” He stuttered. “He’s g-gonna gut me like a fish. Just look the other way.” Before another word was spoken the tell-tale sound of police sirens fill the area the man trembling as he cursed under his breath. 

“Fuck this. I can’t go back there!” He roared as Mark and Jack jerked at the sound of the gun firing, it only taking a matter of seconds for the man to force his way out of the alley, Mark’s eyes to widen and his jaw to go slack.

“M-Mark?” He wasn’t the one. He wasn’t the one to get shot. Mark locked gazes with Jack, the man he lived with, the man he loved, his friend, staring back at him with quickly glazing over eyes as the wound in his forehead grew larger. Blood spattered everywhere as the Irishman dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“No.” He wouldn’t accept it, not what had just happened. The air fell silent as Mark collapsed to his knees, the red and blue lights blurring and bright behind him and seemingly passing on, in pursuit of the killer.

“Jack? Jack, please god no.” He broke down into choked sobs as the low whisper of a curse and slow thud of retreating shoes went un-noticed behind him. He never thought this could or would happen.

But it had. 

____

Jack was still on his shift at the local Starbucks when a certain American appeared to drag him away from his work, or rather, tried to.

“Mark, I’m at work.”

“I need to work too.” The traveller argued back.

“Yeah but, can’t this wait until later.” Jack glanced at the growing line behind his neighbour, leaning closer towards him Jack started muttering in a harsh whisper over the counter.

“You’re a bloody time traveller, you have all the bleedin’ time in the world.” Mark merely snorted as judging glances where sent towards the two from both waiting and served customers. Jack coughed nervously as he stiffly handed Mark the drink he’d ordered for no apparent reason than to just talk to Jack.

“I’ll come over tonight, my boss is totally going to kick your ass in a minute if you don’t get out.” The American huffed and ruffled his hair with his free hand.

“Fine!” He yelled not all too quietly as he threw his hand into the air. “I’ll see you tonight then, my place, pizza, PS4, make it cute.” He finished in a sarcastic tone which Jack couldn’t help but grin at, before throwing the still hot coffee into a bin by the counter and walking out of the shop. 

“I hate café Mist-a-ma-thingies…” The American muttered as he left.

As suspected, the café instantly bustled back to life with murmurs and glances bouncing about, but Jack just put on a smile and continued to serve. He wondered what he was getting himself into, but he didn’t need to really. That ‘what’ was in fact, Mark Fischbach.

\---------

Jack and Mark had just wrapped up another round of Rocket League as the Irishman screamed when Mark scored another goal against him. Jack just thought the American was being sarcastic back at the coffee shop but he wasn’t, much to Jack’s surprise, but he didn’t mind in the slightest.

“I win again.” Mark chuckled as the other man couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face, in a brief pause the doorbell rang behind them and Mark was quick to leap over the back of the sofa and grab his wallet.

“Hey, Mark?” Jack asked, once the American had come back with three large pizzas, a pack of coke cans and a small crate of beer from the kitchen. Mark turned towards him.

“Yeah?”

“I thought you called me over to help you time travel, not for a date.” The Irishman smiled slightly at Mark’s expression on the word ‘date’.

“W-well, this isn’t a date.” He stated stiffly, yet the doubt in his voice was still there. “I do more than just time travel, you know. Why can’t you come over and play video games with me?” Jack was grinning ear to ear as Mark’s face heated up and he sunk down next to the Irishman and grabbed a slice of pizza, quickly tearing through it.

As the two set on playing another game Jack popped open another beer and looked towards Mark who was scowling at the screen of his WiiU pad while playing Mario maker. Ross had sent Jack some level codes earlier that week that Jack sure as hell wasn’t going to play.

“You know, I seriously thought you just wanted my help tonight.” He saw Mark freeze slightly as the man quickly recovered and went for his own can of coke. Even though Jack had gotten through three beers and almost a whole pizza.

“Well,” He started as he cringed when he’d died for the billionth time. “I did, at first. But then, I don’t know. I just haven’t had someone to do this kind of thing with in a while I guess.” 

“So you’re admitting this is a date?” Jack smirked at Mark as he felt the alcohol make its way through his system, the American again burst into colour at the Irishman’s words, not daring to look towards him.

“If I admit that this is a date, will you shut up about it?” Jack nodded furiously as Mark looked over to his slightly and smiled putting on his best villan-ish voice. “Alright…Jack, this was all a ruse, this is in fact a date.” The Irishman let out a bark of laughter as they continued their night, work could wait, at least for a little while.

____

Mark didn’t attend the funeral, maybe he should have, but he didn’t. He hardly knew Jack’s family or friends, he was unsure his family even knew who he was, having to keep his secret and all that. Instead Mark sat alone in his house, flipping through different shows on Netflix and for the first time in years, trying to block the world out with alcohol. As he got through his sixth beer he stopped counting the bottles and just stared blankly at the ceiling, he could just go back and save Jack, he knew that but it hurt, it hurt too much for Mark to actually do anything.

He eventually grew sick of the knocks at his door during the days, Felix or Ken with sweets and video games, people just coming over in general made him fed up. As he stepped out of the shower one evening then took the first glance towards the room at the end of the hallway, not his room, the room where he really worked.

As he threw on some random clothes he made his decision, he couldn’t just sit here and drown in his sadness; he had to do something about it. It went against every code about time travel he’d ever made, but for the first time, he didn’t care. Paradox my ass, he was going to save Jack. One way or another.

\---------

Mark lost track of time with the amount of times he’d gone back, he couldn’t do it. He might have been at it for days, weeks, months even and each time he failed. He failed to save Jack. Everything he tried, even if he stopped Jack getting shot, he would still die some other, twisted way. 

He just had to go back further than that night, he couldn't give up on him.

____

It was early morning once Jack, full of beer and greasy domino’s pizza passed out with his face pressed up against Mark’s shoulder, the American didn’t try to move as he continued playing that one stupid level he knew he’d never be able to beat in Mario Maker. As he finally gave up he set the controller down and stood up, trying not to disturb Jack as he set the man’s head down on the sofa cushion and went to the kitchen to pace the leftover food in the fridge.

When he returned to the room his face grew solemn as he stared at his past friend. He’d come back to try and save him, but instead just ended up getting him too involved again. A low curse rose in his throat as he grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over the younger man and walked down to the basement where he really worked, the room this version of Jack didn’t know about and wasn’t going to know about. He wasn’t going to drag Jack further into this, he couldn’t, for both their sake’s.

As he swung the door open to the room he was quick to grab everything he needed, chugging the last of his coke he crushed the can and threw it into a forgotten corner of the room he set the generator up. This was dangerous, he knew that, but he just didn’t care anymore.

\---------

Everything blurred around Jack as he slowly came to his senses. He was sluggish and hung over but quickly figured out that he had passes out on Mark’s sofa and was buried under a huge blanket. His hand reached out for his phone on the table to check the time, his eyes widening a little at it being just past 5 am, his last memory of the time being only 11pm.  
He slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he noticed the scrap of paper beside a glass of water and two small pain killers.

‘You drank a lot, kid. I’ve gone to do some work, I’ll be back later. Just sleep.  
– Mark’

Jack felt a bit dubious about the pills but the migraine pounding through his head convinced him enough to dry swallow them and go against Mark’s word and got up to grab some cold pizza from the fridge. As he traipsed back into the room he couldn’t help the curiousness that overcame him as he did a back track towards the long hallway leading to Mark’s room.

“Maybe he’s just asleep…” Jack muttered to himself as he brought a plate of food to the man’s room. He walked to the end of the hallway and knocked in the man’s door quietly.

“Mark, I’m gonna head home, but I’m gonna eat all the food if you don’t come get some first.” He joked slightly, but all he was met with was a silence, a silence that the man was either asleep or wasn’t in his bedroom. Jack stood in the hallway and chose to slowly open the door, poking his head inside.

“Mark?” The room was blatantly empty, bed still freshly made despite the varying mess around it. Jack shut the door and scratched the back of his head with his free hand as he turned to the set of steps that lead towards the basement, he’d never been down there before; Jack just presumed it was where Mark kept all of his junk. 

“I gotta say good bye at least.” The Irishman muttered to himself as he sheepishly headed down the stairs to the basement door which was slightly ajar. The blue light emitting from the centre of the room proved Jack’s assumption to be true, Mark was ‘working’ a seemingly dangerous mission without him. That’s when the writings placed around the room caught his eyes.

____

Mark watched his past self crumble to the floor beside Jack’s body in the road, he’d tried again, and failed. Jack hadn’t got shot, his ran after the thief and gotten hit by a speeding car instead. Mark clenched his teeth as he watched the shocked passers-by, the police stopping and helping his sobbing self to his feet and started to shake, the first few tears blurring his vision.

He didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep this up but he’d get Jack back.  
Even if it killed him.

____

Jack’s eyes widened at the writing on one particular scrap of paper pinned to a board on the wall. He’d died? As is eyes raked over the words, the numbers and tried to comprehend them there was a thud and ragged breath as Jack slowly turned towards the portal, staring towards Mark as said man’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing down here?” He instantly blurted out as he tried to compose himself but was quickly falling apart.

“Attempt 1497, failed, shot.” There was a brief pause as Jack read the sentence from the scrap of paper in his hand. 

“Mark, what is this?” Jack asked the room fell silent, the generator shutting off loudly.

“I-I…, you can’t. You can’t get involved.” Jack’s expression softened into something fearful as he looked up from the paper and stared into his neighbour’s eyes.

“Do I..die?” He asked as Mark flinched, just like he had the few days before when he’d brought up Mark’s partner. But that’s when it started to click in his head, the man opposite him didn’t need to say anything more.

“I was your partner, wasn’t I? Or going to be?” Mark stiffly nodded, knowing he was practically cornered. That’s when Jack stopped talking, clearly waiting for Mark to say something about the whole situation. His throat was dry, he fear the moment he opened his mouth he’d break into tears, but he just swallowed the lump in his throat and stood a little straighter.

“I’m from six years in the future,” The American admitted with a little trouble as he search his past friend’s features for any other expression at all other than what he could see right now, disappointment. “Y-you worked with me for two years. We moved in together, we became friends and then four years ago you…we went out and, you-” He couldn’t say it, Mark felt choked on his own words but Jack was quick to finish the sentence.

“Died.” The word hung bitterly in the air as Jack spoke again, more words cutting their way into Mark. “You’ve been going back to try and save me…” He muttered as the Irishman’s gaze locked with the floor instead of the man in front of him.

“Ever since that day.” Mark confirmed with a shaking voice. “Even if I save you after the cinema, you get sick, you get run over…my past self gets shot and you, you commit suicide. I don’t know what to do. I just keep going back.” The first few tears started to fall from Mark’s eyes as Jack quickly stalked across the room, completely sober now as he enveloped the crying man in a hug.

“I mean a lot to you, don’t I?” Mark just nodded as the Irishman sighed into his shoulder. “Four years you’ve been trying to save me?” Another nod. The next words hit Mark deep. “Why don't you just get on without me?” The time traveler was quick to pull away from Jack and stumble backwards.

“Don’t say that!” He yelled, panicked as Jack expression failed to change, still solemn and unreadable.

“It’s true though, it'd be better for you.”

“No- It’s n-not.” Mark stuttered as the Irishman finally looked him in the eyes, and it hurt.

“Four years! Four years, Mark! Why?””

“I don’t want to lose you!” The American yelled back.

“Why not?!” Mark stopped as the tension in the room slowly faded into a gloomy feeling that spread through the two men.

“I-I…” He swallowed as he struggled with his words. “I just don’t…want to be alone.” Jack’s gaze softened as he exhaled through his nose.

“God, Mark…” He muttered as he held a hand to his forehead. “Maybe…it’s just not meant to be, you know. Time travel's weird and all that.” Mark’s eyes widened.

“I’m not going to do it,” The man opposite him spoke stiffly. “I’m not going to erase your memories.” He'd told Jack about being able to do that on his friends, to alter his own life into theirs so he'd live in the area like any normal person could, it was a cheap trick and he knew it.

“You’re just being selfish now…” Jack muttered as Mark stopped completely, letting the words setting within him, he quickly realized that he was still crying and wiped his eyes violently with his sleeve. Jack couldn't fathom time travel for a start, but it was pretty simple to understand that some other version of him in some other time was doomed to die if he had any interaction with Mark.

“Jack- I-” The Irishman cut him off, his own temper getting the better of him.

“I’m the one that’s going to die, Mark! Don’t you get that? You just want me to die over and over so you can cling to the chance that we can ever work out?!” He yelled as his voice echoed within the room dully.

“I didn’t- I didn’t mean for it to seem like-”

“I know you didn’t, man.” Tears were now forming in the Irishman’s eyes as he spoke. “Just, this has to stop. I’ve known you for a week, but you’ve been trying to save me for four years? That’s crazy.” The laughed weakly at the end as he walked back up to Mark and reach out for his hand, the man flinching briefly.

“I’m not worth all that trouble, trust me.” Jack whispered. “Just get on with your life without me.” Mark swallowed the next growing lump in his throat was he nodded.

“I just don’t-” The Irishman stop Mark, the American’s eyes growing wide at his past partner’s lips on his own, they quickly fell into a kiss that Mark was reluctant to let Jack pull away from, but he did with a defeated sigh.

“Promise me, Mark. You won’t go back. Not anymore, don’t try to save me.” Mark nodded sadly as Jack smiled a little. “I’m glad to have met you Mark, seen all the crazy shit I’ve seen, even in only a week.” Mark chuckled a little until it dawned on him what he was about to do.

“I’m going to miss you, Jack.” Mark spoke quietly as the Irishman shared the same look that he did, nodding.

“Me too, just stay in my life though, will you?” Mark was a little taken aback by the question. “Come to the coffee shop when you can, talk to me…”

“Stay a stranger?” Mark finished as Jack nodded.

“Yeah.” And with that Mark did the only thing he could do, the thing he had to do. He erased Jack’s memory.

\---------

“The usual, sir?” Jack asked as he watched a certain American come through the coffee shop doors for the fifth time thst week. The man merely nodded as Jack set to making the drink for him, it didn’t go un-noticed by Jack the way the man only came in when he was on shift. Maybe he had a secret admirer. However he let the thought pass, A) He was straight and B) he currently had a girlfriend so no matter how attractive the man across the counter seemed, nothing could happen.

“He you go, one café misto.” He grinned as he handed the American his drink, the man just nodded curtly, handed him the money and muttered a quiet ‘goodbye’. Before heading out back into the cold winter street.

“Shame.” Jack murmured to himself as he served other customers. “He’s cute.”

\---------

As Mark pushed his way out of the coffee shop his throat was tight, he’d barely managed to speak to Jack without the pain of him not knowing who he was rising in his chest. However he waved it off with a sip of his coffee, this was for the better; he knew it. As he drunk his coffee he couldn’t help but scrunch up his nose at the taste.

“Gah, dammit. I hate misto…” He muttered into the winter air; he drunk the drink anyway.


End file.
